The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1887-09-16
TRAMPLED AND ROASTED.
FRiGHTFUL HOLOCAUST IN A THEA.
TIRE AT EXETER, ENGLAND.


The Dread Cry of Fire Throws the Audi.
ence into "a Panic and Mad Rusi, for the
Exits Ensues- Loss of Life Known To he
$50 and Is Probably Greater. with an
Unknown Number Wounded.
LONDON, Sept. G. During the performance
of the "Romany Rye" in the theater at Elk.
eter Monday evening the building was dis.
covered to be ON fire. The audience became
panic-stricken and male frantic rush for
the exits. In spite of the heroic efforts OF the
attaches to reassure them and induce them tc
go out quietly, the occupants of the pit en-.
gagged ia an awful struggle for egress in the
narrow aisles Men and women were dclib.
erately knocked down and tramplel upon by
those behind them, and hundreds of pers ,ns
were almost entirely denuded in ths terrible
fight for life. Tho pit was finally cleared.
but large number Of the occupants Of that
portion OF the house were seriously injured
and presented horrible spectacle as they
reached the street.
The occupants OF the gallery dill not fare SC
we'll There was only one very narrow exit
from the upper tier, involving the d..
scent of rather long flight OF
stairs, AMI here an almost indeScriba.
BILE scene OF terror AM slaughter ensued.
The rush for the stairs was terrific, AMI i'm a
moment the entire passageway was blocked
those person, who kept their feet being sup
ported by soli,l mass of PROSTATE humanity.
The shrieks, groans and curses OF the inn
the dying were perfectly heartrending, but
there was no relief. and in moment scores
Of men and women were either suffoca.el to
death or killed by being trodden upon
A fire escape was at last brought to one of
the gallery windows, and through this
medium the pressure was relieved and a great
many persons were lowered to the street AS
soon as the house had been cleared of the
living the work of removing the dead was
begun. and sixty bodies were taken out by
means of the fire escape The wounded sur
vivors were conveyed to the hospital and
their number at this time cannot be definitely
ascertained, but it is very larg. The total
number of lives lost is estimated at 100. but
may exceed that figure
The fire started in the flies during the fourth
act of the play. When the flames were dis
covered a drop scene was lowered to prevent
the current OF air from increasing the blaze
After this was done the actors and stage
hands threw open a door to make their es-
cape, when the draft caused the flames to
burst through the drop scene and ignite the
woodwork of the gallery.
The flames overlook the hindmost OF the
unfortunate people who were wedged i'm the
corridor and stairway, and literally roasted
them alive. There was no escape for them,
the fire being at their backs AMI a compact,
imnovable mass of human beings i'm front.
The firemen reached the upper windows and
took out all of the people they coul fnl, bat
most of them were dead, and many Others
died soon after they We're taken out.
The surgeons in the hospitals revived few
persons who were thought TO lie dead from
suffocation, but at 4 O'clock in the morning
nearly 100 corpses laid in rows on the floor,
ard these did not comprise the total number
of the dead, as a great many bodies were
burned to ashes in the theatre. Some of the
dead were simply sulfocatei ami not at all
mutilated or burned The occupants of the
dress circle escaped without injury, the in
jured and dead being confined to the pit and
the upper circles The building was de-
stroyed
There were pitiful scenes in the vicinity of
the burned theatre Tuesd,y morning as
friends and relatives Cf supposed victims
awaited the recovery OF the lodies. In many
cases fathers and mothers both persisted, aud
numerous children are thus left without
means of support. Several of the bodies
were burned SO chat only small cinder re-
manned. The total loss of life is expected to
reach 40.
None of the blackened and charred corpses
that are still lying side by side in the stall
near the ruins of the theater have yet been
identified, and it is likely that nearly all of
them will be buried as strangers possibly by
persons who knew them intimately in life,
but who are unable to distinguish semblance
of their former friends in the revolving trunks
and fragments of flesh that escaped the fury
OF the flames.